You may or may not have seen this collection of designs for some Marvel heroine formal costume designs. (And if you haven't, you should) And got some of us thinking about a formal variant for superheroes. So what, if anything, do you folks think?

We've seen some characters already have more formal versions, Aquaman sometimes has his King clothes, and Wonder Woman has her Ambassadorial get up. But if Superman is invited to a charitable benefit in his name, does he just roll up in there in his work clothes? As near as I can tell he does, if only because a suit would give away that he's Clark Kent. But what if he had a formal version as well? Would it be a standard tux or suit in his colors, or maybe just a lapel pin with the shield? Maybe some robes? Or maybe some other outfit that takes design cues from his normal suit, but changes the shapes and lines a bit to make it more refined and formal?

I want to say that female characters would have an easier time of it, that there's more leeway in women's clothing design compared to men that have a small handful of suits to pick from (business, tux, Prince Charlie/Kilt combo, Sherwani) but that may be my own predjudices talking.

Opinions? Thoughts? Have you tried to fancy up an outfit that you want to share?

It's been said in several different storylines in Marvel comics, particularly in the Avengers, that Superheroes who are invited as their costume personas often attend formal events in their superhero outfits. This is the same courtesy extended that is extended to the military dress uniforms are accepted in the place of tuxedoes and ball gowns. However this is usually only practiced by heroes with secret identities and who wear masks, like say spider-man or Hawkeye. Characters like Iron Man, She-Hulk and Wasp take every opportunity to dress up when they can.

peregrine wrote:I'd point out that the military does have a formal variant for their uniforms, Mess Dress, which has the dangly medals, and looks like a variant on a tux, rather than a suit with ribbons.

Some of them looking pretty crazy. If you've seen pictures of Kaiser Wilhelm in full dress then you've seen some of the world's armed forces mess dress styles. They have ropes and capes and other crazy stuff hanging off every available inch of the uniform. This is doubly so for anybody with the rank of colonel or above. Triply if the officer is British.